This World
by TsukixnoEvernight
Summary: When a group of four people wander into the Core, the reawakened Nasod King attacks them. Unable to stop them, Eve is thrown into chaos. When she emerges again, the red-haired boy doesn't finish her off. Instead, he offers her his hand and friendship. And in return, she slaps him...she begins her new life in a world in which she is outdated in. Els x A, Ra x Re, and C x E moments
1. Chapter 1 - Living in This World

**Hey guys :D Name is Ever and this is my first Elsword fanfiction. Also, this chapter was created for own my entertainment WAY before I realized there was a site for fanfictions. Although this may seem similar to other people's works, don't hurt me ]: Because I truly didn't copy anything off other than the characters, their histories, the places, etc. (from the game) And it's not even mine then...but this story is. If you're wondering why it's called This World, it's because of a movie I recently watched in Social Studies... xD As it is my first fanfic and the fact I'm not thirty years old...I think I know it's extremely...no cussing for me in my precious writing, let's just say "horrible." I have the ghost of the plot for this fanfiction though :D Also, if you've any questions, ask them! I'll try to answer all of them. Hope you enjoy this~!**

**Edit: Revamping this chapter sometime later when I have the spare minutes to. I still think this is a horrible chapter, so I'll be editing it later to hopefully make it even better. :) Kay, thanks for being here! Continue on! ^-^**

Disclaimer - I do not own any content that was created by KOG and Kill3rCombo when Elsword was brought in...to NA :D So don't sue me. Please.

Chapter 1

* * *

~ Living in this World ~

* * *

Her eyes, dipped in amber and golden, fluttered open hesitantly. She was encased in a mountain of rubble. Reaching out a dusty-gloved hand, she weakly pushed the rocks off of her. Eventually reaching the light at the other end, she blinked once. The remains of the Nasod King were strewn across the battlefield. Her own capsule lay in dull orange shards, broken beyond repair. The Nasods under the King's reign were prone on the floor, battered, burnt, and cut open.

A red-haired boy who had caused all this mess was standing next to the fallen Nasod King, his sword strapped onto his back. He was wearing red on top paired with black and white pants and a brown belt. She dimly remembered that, under all the chaos, he had used that same sword to hack through the fires that the rampaging Nasods has created.

Rampaging Nasods. The Nasod King. They wouldn't listen to her, even after her attempts to revive them with her remaining energy. They had turned on her and attacked the humans that had wandered into the core. This was not what she had revived them for and programmed them to do...

She felt no fear stir within her when she stood up, not even bothering to brush off the dirt from her clothes. The little Queen of Nasods had no feelings, after all. She was not living. Elsewise, she would not have survived these thousands of years in her capsule after the War. The blond long-haired elf's dark golden eyes flickered over to her. She was dressed in a green and blue top with a couple of black straps connecting from the top to her neck. The white skirt she wore reached to her thighs. Her white boots shifted as she leaned over and said something to a purple short-haired girl holding a staff. In a misty navy purple dress trimmed in white with spiky ends and a red tie, the girl jabbed the red-haired boy with the staff and whispered loudly to him. He turned from her and walked over to the remaining Nasod.  
She stood squarely and her drones, Moby and Reby, floated shakily over to her. She would be ready to fight if she had to. She would defend her race, as their Queen. Her eyes seemed to bore a hole through the boy.

Instead of unsheathing his sword, the boy just said, "I'm sorry we killed him," then nodded towards the King.

The purple-haired girl snickered. The elf just slapped her palm to her face, and a black spiky-haired man with a Nasod arm just turned his back to him, shaking his head. The red-haired boy shut his eyes and snapped back at them, "Can you do any better?!"

"Sure I can," the girl with the staff said smoothly. "Watch and learn, Elsword."

She walked up to her and said, "Scat."

"Aisha!" the elf cried. "That's not a good way to say that!"

"What!" she exclaimed. "How else can you say it? 'Ooh, pleeeease, forgive us for killing that hunk of junk that tried to murder us!'"

Eve was slightly baffled, even though she denied the very emotion she was feeling right now. There must've been something wrong with her reactor.

"I-let me try." She stomped up to the girl supposedly named Aisha and shoved her aside. She swung her long blond hair and said, "I'm sorry we killed him. He-"

"That's your way, huh?" Aisha cut in as she reclaimed her spot next to the boy with the Nasod arm. "You said exactly what Elsword just said! Raven, how about you try?"

"No," the boy said. "I'm not going to."

"Scared of her?" Aisha taunted. "Afraid of girls?"

"Shut it," Raven muttered, taking a few paces away from her. Shirtless with his chest revealing long, thin scars, he was dressed only in a pair of black pants. His eyes were the same color as hers. He moved his Nasod fingers, all pointing at Aisha. They looked sharp. Who had made that Nasod arm? It certainly looked nothing like hers. She inspected her own gloved hand. It was intact, and when she moved her fingers, there was no pain in them. And it almost looked human.

"You're no use," said Elsword. He looked at her, then walked towards her again. She stiffened. Moby and Reby were still floating, but not for long. The black drone was tilting off axis and the white drone was dipping lower towards the ground. The most damage both could do was land a few hits and get her away.

A hand entered her field of vision while she was looking at Moby and Reby. It was Elsword's hand. "Want to be my friend?" he asked.

Her reactor malfunctioned.

She slapped him.

* * *

The small group of five people traipsed across the plains. The plains let in a stray, bitter and frosty wind in to buffet them. The grass was dry, the earth was cracked, both thirsting for water. The storm clouds above them looked as if they were to break loose gallons of liquid on them any moment. As much as Eve wanted to stop by the broken and corrupted Nasods that lay on the ground, she restrained herself and kept on walking.

"What's your name?" the elf questioned in her cheery way.

"Eve," she replied simply.

"What do you like to eat?"

"I eat whatever I must."

"Um...what's your favorite hobby?" she asked, her face still in her straight and happy way.

"Killing," she said.

The elf stopped while Eve continued walking. She left Rena to do that. She had to get to the town that Elsword was leading them to and tend to her drones.

"You like killing?" Aisha said, wrinkling her nose. "Who does that?"

"You would have killed if you were caught up with the War," she said. She was defensive of her race and their history.

The group reached the trees after climbing out of the fleetingly cold mountains. The forest seemed to loom in on her, the roots trying to creep up her legs, the leaves trying to whip them. A tree stood apart from the others, its leafy branches waving in an unfelt wind. Eve kept on walking.

Elsword stopped.

She didn't look back. There was something very wrong in the air, yes, but it wasn't anything fatally dangerous. That was what her calaculations told her anyway. Eve glanced around. The tree; wasn't it a few meters away from where it had been before? A walking tree?  
She switched her sensory lenses on. All around her, the lenses would sense heat from moving organisms by differentiating them with red and blue; red for active, blue for inactive. Other than humans, most active beings were called mobs. To put it in a more correct term, perhaps enemies. Just because they weren't human didn't mean they weren't dangerous. The tree disappeared again. It was definitely an enemy, but she needed to know where it was.

A red walking figure was among the taller oaks. She brought up her hand and pointed at the tree. Moby and Reby responded to her command and dove forward to strike the mob eight times. "Illusion Strike," she said in a monotone voice. It fell down and faded from her radar.

"Eve!" Rena's voice called from within the misty forest. "What are you doing?"

"I am doing my favorite hobby."

"Killing?" she shouted.

"Yes." She had already spotted the stranded group that had stopped walking. "What is the matter?" she asked Elsword, who looked like he was about to leap at her and continue standing at the same time.

"He's trying to listen to Rena's advice and attempting to not jump after every enemy that appears," Raven said, speaking for the second time. The first time was when he had told Aisha to shut it. He gave her an odd look, one she could define as _uncertainty _and_ hatred._

"Why is that so? These creatures weak. The mobs here are weak." Eve turned around. Was something watching them? The fog that was settling over them thickened. Moisture hung from the air. She felt miniscule droplets on her face.

"I have a great idea!" Aisha announced.

"Like last time?" Elsword inquired. Rena's face showed a shadow of amusement.

Aisha's mouth twitched in annoyance. "Shut up, Eldork."

"What'd you say?" he asked, prodding the back of her neck with the hilt of his sword.

"Eeyaaa!" Aisha shrieked. Eve's vision flashed DANGER! Aisha's staff clattered onto the forest floor as a tornado of fire spun out of it. "You dolt!" she screamed at Elsword. "That was all of my mana and now-now-"

"The forest will burn down," Eve finished calmly for her. "We must get out."

"Okay, Ms. Obvious," the mage snapped. "You lead us out then." She was clearly losing her nerves. Her purple eyes were clouding over as she saw the flames. The first tree had already started blackening. The leaves instantly caught on fire and the blazing magic raced down the branches like it was gasoline. The tree gave a massive groan; Elsword was shouting, "Run!"

The forest was bathed in red and orange now. Heat got through Eve's white clothes and turned them black with soot and ash. Her vision flashed another DANGER! sign before zipping out of sight. The fallen leaves from the trees above darkened from the fire. She spread her arms behind her, and floated off of her boots. She couldn't fly; just float for a few inches off the ground and glide for higher heights. Rena was sprinting ahead at Elsword's speed; Raven was dragging Aisha on the ground, shouting something at her. The group was not an elegant sight. Eve pushed off from the air and kicked the air again to reach a higher elevation before gliding down to the earth. She was ahead of the land-locked humans when something metallic clanged audibly against a root. The Nasod spun around and found Reby on the ground. "Reby!" she whispered. Eve stopped gliding and bent down to pick up the white drone. It was severely scratched on one side. Moby gave a faint whir; it was weak and it was a sign of fatigue. They must've been exhausted beyond my calculations, she thought. But they went on for me. She stacked Moby on top of Reby and ran on the damp earth. She couldn't float with her hands full. Eve was catching up to Raven, who had Aisha stumbling on her brown shoes, by the time they reached the end of the shadowy forest. Her foot hit a stray branch from the fire and Elsword caught her. Instead of thanking him, she pushed Moby into his hands. "Hold him," she gasped. The fire's heat had been bad for her Nasod body. She sat down on the ground and clutched at Reby. She truly treasured her companions. Eve told herself firmly that she would revive her race when she had accepted Elsword's hand back at the site. Now she would revive the drones.

"System check - Complete. Data files 289106, 36920, and 11478 are damaged. History data - undamaged. File 0001 - Lost." Eve ran another check and got the same results. That was certainly a relief. No history data had been damaged by the raging fire. "Where is the nearest town?" she breathed.

"H..." Raven faltered. "...Hamel, I think..." Rena glanced at him. Was there something about Hamel that had to do with him? Eve thought for a moment. Then she banished it.

"We must get there," she said, taking Moby from Elsword's grasp. "To get my drones back up."

"It should be right down the hill," Rena said, reappearing with leaves stuck all over her hair. She had been climbing a remaining tree to get a good view. Raven paled.

"Situation over," the Nasod Queen whispered to herself. "Eve, battle mode switch off. Now, we must go."

She took a step when Elsword said, "Waaaait."

"What is it?" she asked sharply. She didn't have time for this nonsense. Humans must be truly unintelligent if they did not see the direness of the situation as it was standing.

"Elsword, we gotta go," Aisha said worriedly.

"I'm gonna ask for you to explain something for me," he continued, ignoring the purple-haired mage. "So...How..." He shook his head and balanced his sword on his foot before attempting again. "I went from Ruben, met Rena and Aisha, we hit into the forest that's right behind us-" Elsword stopped abruptly and cranked his neck around to look behind.

No forest. No trees. Just endless crystal blue waves.

"The hell," he muttered. "And then we wind up on a ship, literally tie Raven up, land in Nasod World, hit the forest AGAIN, pop back on some plains, and meet you. Just now...freaking forest...and now we're, where, in HAMEL!"

"Please wait a moment." Eve ran through her copied files of information and came up with nothing. Her golden eyes held a faint imprint of a blue axis plane as she searched for the answer to Elsword's complaint. Flipping her lenses on, she tapped the air, letting it ripple with cyan waves. The menu appeared, giving her a list to choose from. She tapped "Search" and an empty dark blue bar popped up along with a light blue keyboard. Eve placed both of her hands on the keyboard and typed out "Shadow Forest." Within a few moments, the plane faded from her eyes and she spoke again. "According to the information my system has gathered from tapping into other sources, the Shadow Forest is constantly moving."

Raven frowned, his eyes darkening as he thought. "Constantly moving?"

"Yes. It is a place that is similar to an illusion, a mirage, a trick on the eyes. It is like a forest covered in mist...it IS a forest covered in mist...and one may wander within it for eternity if they do not have something to accomplish within their minds."

"Let's just hope we don't encounter it again," Rena said with not a hint of concern in her voice. "That way, we won't be stuck in there~"

Elsword picked up his sword again and sheathed it, strapping it onto his back.

The group pattered down the hill as the looming city of Hamel appeared. It was grand, much more grand than when the Nasods had built their kingdom using their technology. Even though all the houses and shops were outside, all of the shops were closed and the houses were dark. A dry wind blew through the silent city. It felt like there was a coming darkness. Even Elsword, who, according to her observations, was unshaken of almost nothing, glanced at the dark and cloudy sky, as if hesitant.

**So, how was that :D I haven't really got SUPERB vocabulary, but I intend to start reading the dictionary starting tomorrow, if I can remember to lug it around with me. I know I'm missing crucial thoughts from characters and I'm lacking in-depth descriptions of the locations they were in and what the characters look like.**

** To answer some questions you MIGHT have, Eve's lenses are part of her system. Looking through it, Eve can see the world kind of like the way your screen looks if you've ever dungeoned in Elsword, or PvPed for that matter. She can view the blue bar as her mana, her red bar as her health, and can see the labels of each enemy/mob. With her lenses on, if she spared a glance at Elsword or Aisha or Raven, she could see their names under them XD Next, further explanation of Shadow Forest. The Shadow Forest is usually located near Elder, but the absence of El has caused it to move. No, the trees (I MEAN TREES NOT ENTS XD ) do not grow legs and walk. I mean it as like...it kind of teleports to where El was at. Like Eve said, you can get stuck in there forever if you don't have something important to hold on to. I'm really bad at explaining, so if you still don't get it, feel free to ask me xD**

** Tell me if I missed anything. Three reviews = will be working on next chapter~ Three's the lucky number! :D (For me, anyway) Please give me your opinions on whether I should continue or not ^_^ R and R~ (PLUS++ Tell me your opinions on pairings :D I already have some on mind, but no spoilers~ No promises either! And I'll take it nice and slow :3 )**


	2. Chapter 2 - Chaos

_I'd like ta thank the guest Sweet Trickster for reminding me that there is still Elwiki and Google in the world :D I was being stupid and didn't realize that =.= Thank yus, Sweet Trickster! And all those that reviewed for me! ^_^_

Chapter 2

* * *

~ Chaos ~

* * *

Eve glanced back, the aquamarine waves still beating on the edge. The sky continued darkening as they stepped out of the grass and onto smooth white marble. Their surrounding buildings were carefully constructed out of white stone, the tops of them painted with a glossy teal. They were laced with intricate golden patterns, and spruce trees the color of lime green stood like sentries, lining the border of the paths that led to the buildings.

To her left, a white arch with a narrowed top housed a blue gem that was imbedded within it. A sudden thought struck her. _Is that a fragment of El?_ She stopped walking for a split second, uncertain of what to do. The dome behind the arch was colored the same as every other building, with dark rectangles where the stone was cut out to create windows. Eve had a sudden impulse to go inside and look into it.

Her system placed a question in her mind. It was asking her for the reasons to enter the dome. She continued moving her feet, but she was immersed within her own thoughts, not paying attention to the rest of her surroundings. _Perhaps this is what they call curiosity? But for curiosity to spark within a Nasod's mind, would that not mean the system's pull of collecting more data? It is true that I have lost some files during the fire and I must fill in the gap from the time I have been sleeping, but my calculations tell me that this _curiosity_ may or may not dwell within all-_

A ray of light entered her eyes. Strange enough, it was an aberrant color, without a tinge of the yellow that usually resided in it. Instead, the light was violet, with hints of magenta... Eve snapped out of her train of thought and absorbed in every detail her eyes sent her, now convinced that she needed to do so from the unsettling feeling she had. The clouds, almost black now, had created a mini swirling vortex in the middle, slowly rotating. It was located above several beautiful pillars that tapered at the top, with enormous amounts of water gushing down onto the ground below. The air was strangely still, as if it were waiting for something, or someone, to break the silence.

Aisha twirled her purple staff, lightning sparking from her hand to her weapon. A tense aura surrounded the group, with Raven clenching and unclenching his Nasod arm, and Rena plucking her bowstring every now and then. Elsword's red eyes darted around, keeping his hands on the black and red hilt of his sword.

With a sudden rumble, the earth heaved and thunder resounded across the City of Water. The vortex expanded to three times it's original size, and what was after it... Line after line of demons poured through the vortex and onto the city. The tension snapped like a thin string as the dark creatures infiltrated. Eve's eyes widened; were there such beings that existed without her knowing? Several demons with bows advanced on them. Their opponents formed a phalanx as the leader drew his bow back to launch an arrow.

In an instant, Rena nocked an arrow into her own green and white bow and fired it without pause or hesitation. The demon caught it with it's claws as the elf launched an entire volley upon them. Unable to keep up, a couple of them fell down, arrows sprouting from their breastplates. They broke the formation. The remaining demons sent fanning arrows to pierce them, their turquoise eyes glittering with dark intent. Eve was about to deflect the incoming projectiles when Aisha drove the bottom of her staff onto the stone, a blue shield enveloping them. The arrows bounced off of the shield and clattered at their feet. "It's not going to hold for long!" she shouted over the now-howling wind.

Eve searched frantically for a weapon on herself. Moby and Reby were still injured; but she had a restore chip that could help them...even though the risks were that they could break down and deactivate themselves. Without further analyzation in the heat of battle, she swiped open her inventory from her system's storage dimension and swept the restore chips into her delicate hands. As Aisha's shield started cracking, Eve set Reby on the ground and wrenched open the white latch located on it's side. It swung upward to reveal a mass of wires, most of them scratched and twisted. She parted the wires and found the chip Reby had used for over a thousand years. It looked similar to a melted-down lump of metal, damaged beyond repair. With a grim look in her eyes, she pulled the chip out and shoved the restoration chip in it's place. The wires reached for the chip, as if they were plants leaning out for the sun. The moment they connected, blue electricity traveled over the wires, and it repaired itself in a matter of seconds. Eve didn't bother to continue inspecting Reby; she worked on it's black twin next while the white drone programmed to start itself up again. Moby was in better state than Reby, but it was broken down nonetheless. She put the chip into Moby when Reby rose from the ground and levitated next to her left shoulder. No time for relief. Chaos caused by the battle had started; the shield Aisha had conjured already shattered into several shards, fading as she noticed it.

A knife richocheted off of the black drone's hard armor. She acknowledged the presence of Moby as she dashed forward, swinging both of them towards one of the archers. She caught it by the side of it's head and waved her hand at the ground. A metal spike erupted out of the earth a moment later, spearing the demon. It thudded dully in front of her as black blood poured from the wound she inflicted upon it.

Elsword pushed a gaggle of demons wielding shields away from Aisha as he gasped, "You alright?"

Sweat dotted the mage's forehead. "For now." She straightened her back and held her staff straight out in front of her. Purple lightning shot out of it, electrocuting the demons that were hiding behind their metal shields. Elsword leaned on his sword, his back to Aisha's as he scanned the oncoming tide of enemies.

"What's with these all of a sudden, anyway?" He parried a strike from a demon that was gripping a sword as broad as his. Elsword gritted his teeth and sent a geyser of flame crashing into his opponent as another came to him from the side. Aisha whipped around and shot a ball of concentrated fire at it. It came out, unscalded, and swung it's blade over the head of the exhausted boy.

An arrow pierced the eye of the demon as Rena slid forward to kick it in the shin, backflipping to shoot three more arrows at it's head. It roared in pain as it blindly swung the sword around, then fell flat on it's face when a tall figure slashed past it.

"Elsword, are you unhurt?" Rena's eyes flickered over to him, searching for any signs of wounds.

"I'm-" His response was cut short when an electronball slammed into a demon assassin that approached them on their left. It dropped it's knife, still dripping with poison, and collapsed, dead. Eve wiped ebony blood off of her face, glanced around for more of those creatures, and found none on the blood-slick stones.

She opened her mouth to say something when distant wails caused everyone to look for the source of the sound. "There is another ambush," she said, focusing her lenses into the distance. "There are already people locked in combat there."

A flash of maroon caught her eye. She returned her attention towards the raging battle in the distance. "A Seiker is there."

Elsword got back up, wiping his head on his sleeve. "Come on. Let's get there."

"Are you crazy?" Aisha slapped his side with the flat of her staff. Elsword winced. "You can barely stand as it is. Just because we survived doesn't mean we'll survive completely unscratched the next time. There's a Seiker there anyway. Let's go."

"But-"

Rena gave him a firm stare, another emotion showing within the depths of the gaze. _Worry...? _Eve considered. _Or is it concern...? _"Let's head back. Maybe we can get out of here, somehow. I'd rather none of you get hurt..." She tightened her hold on her bow.

Raven started to slide his sword back into it's sheath at his side when he let go of it. He stumbled, holding his Nasod arm as his face contorted with pain. "Stupid...thing..." he muttered.

Eve refocused her lenses, from the battle to him. The arm was flashing a dangerous fiery aura. She gently pushed Aisha aside and crouched next to him. "Please give me your arm."

He managed to glare at her, despite the pain. After a moment of searching for her intents on her emotionless face, he extended his shaking arm towards her. She held it and pressed her thumb on his shoulder.

"Are you trying to kill me?" Raven growled. It was obvious she had pressed upon a sore spot.

"No," she said thoughtfully. "I am inspecting this arm. It is certainly created by Nasods, but...there is a virus within it...how long ago did you obtain this arm?"

"I don't remember," he said. "Hurry up. If another of those things attack us again, we'd be in a tight situation." Eve didn't answer. She pressed several more points on his arm, each causing a jolt of pain for it's host.

"I assume that there is a virus. Whether or not it was placed there for experimental purposes or it is just that the arm obtained it somewhere, I cannot say. I must do further analyzation to find out." She straightened up and almost immediately noticed that the war raging out had disappeared.

All was silent again. Raven crumpled onto the ground, drawing Eve's attention once more. She rummaged within her inventory and came up with a laser. Using it to burn through the steel of his arm, she found...nothing. Aghast at the sight, she scanned the interior of the arm. Not a single wire. She waved her hand and the keyboard came up. Eve connected her eyesight to her system. Her mind whirled for a moment; she couldn't keep up with the amount of data flowing in. She knew she was outdated, but this...

She subconsciously scanned the particles of the red aura. "It seems that this is what is controlling the arm," she murmured, her voice returning.

"Can you take it out?" Elsword asked. "Raven looks like he wants to die."

The Nasod had too much weight on her. Knowing that the battle was mysteriously gone and not knowing how Raven's arm was made, she couldn't prepare for the threatening prescence in the atmosphere while she was fixing this. Dispelling the doubt and, possibly, frustration that grew within herself, she got busy to figuring out how to cast the virus from the arm. Rena's face creased with worry as Aisha withdrew an old leather-bound book, flipping madly through the pages.

Elsword stared at Eve when her fingers flew over the keyboard. The taps seemed extremely loud in the otherwise quiet air. A moment later, she pressed on the last key with her index finger, and the crimson aura vanished from the arm.

Raven manifested signs of relief, right before the blow of the entire battle came.

Pandemonium erupted again. The battle had been...teleported? How was that possible? The brunt of the army was there to assault the defenders; the measly group of four people were thankfully not alone this time. Eve turned and spotted the Seiker in the middle again-he was no longer in maroon armor, and he emanated every aspect of darkness. The large piece of El that was implanted in the center was giving off swirls of evil, violet and deadly. An inferior white shape was clashing with the Seiker, and was clearly losing. What had happened to the Seiker? Perhaps...it had been taken over? Before Eve could attempt to help it, a black dragon soared over her, plummeting downwards to attack. She wasted no time and gathered an electronball into her hands, then tossed it at the wyvern. Just as she was about to look for allies she could fight with, she was swept along by a tide of demons brandishing spears. The tips shredded her clothing and momentarily surprised her. She rolled onto the earth, keeping her face placid. Regaining her stance on solid ground, Eve pulled out her own ivory spears, and sent blue shocks throughout the wave. As they fell stunned onto the ground, she mercilessly stabbed through them all.

Eve found herself almost diagonal from the human she was looking at earlier. It was clad in white armor, with a mask covering it's face and blue mane of hair on the back of it's head. White fire raced along it's body. It swung a cannon that was twice it's height and shot at the Seiker. "Father, resist it!"

A dark knight carrying both a shield and a sword collected the light particles that surrounded it. Eve knew what would happen next. She snatched the human's hand and concentrated. A blue silhouette of her was produced, and she was ejected a few meters away, towing the human along.

A bright, dangerous laser burnt down the whole stretch of land in it's path right after. The knight released the particles, creating a beam of light that would incinerate anything to a mere crisp.

"Thank you," the human breathed. It's voice was of a boy's, but under the mask, she could not affirm if it was one.

"No need," she replied pleasantly, as if there wasn't death dragging out around them. The human took a moment to observe her. She had silver hair and blank, amber eyes. Between her bangs, an orb of blue was revealed. A white drone and a black drone floated defensively over her. Was she what the books would say...a Nasod?

The black drone flashed past his face and bashed the head of the knight. "Please pay attention. I am not a knight in shining armor." He blinked; did she think he was a girl?

"You're right; I'm sorry." His face hardened in resolve, and he faced his father again.

Eve nodded and saw rivulets of blood-crimson blood-running down the Seiker's armor. He had attacked two of the defenders while the knight had kept them occupied. In his hand was a limp body of a female warrior, which he dropped when the human came at him again.

A body shoved against Eve and fell on top of her. Elsword's red eyes were alarmed as they both saw a spear whistle through the air towards them. A purple-haired girl skidded in front of them and raised the blue shield again. "Geez, Elsword! Let me take offensive for once, I keep having to defend you."

He gave a weak grin in response and pushed himself back up. "Sorry, Eve." Then he rushed back into the fray.

Eve's thoughts slowly proposed a carefully constructed plan. "Elsword!" She dove after him. "Elsword, please evacuate everyone."

"Why the hell-?"

"Just do it, please."

"Aisha," he said as he deflected a blow. He rolled over on the other side of his opponent and slashed at it. "Evacuate everyone."

"Why should I listen to you again?" she called.

"Because you're shorter than me."

"That's nothing. I'm older than you!"

"Shortie!"

"Treat your elders with respect!" The mage sent a wave of flame through the line of demons.

"Like-" Eve, impatient, backhanded him across his face. Elsword grew silent as he finished off the demon with a red hand print plastered onto his cheek.

"Nevermind!" he shouted. "I'll evacuate the people!" She heard Aisha 'hmph.'

On the far left of the battlefield, an elf warned all the defenders to move out of the way. She drew back her bowstring, closed her eyes, and breathed in slowly before letting it go. The arrow was set ablaze, then flared into the shape of a phoenix. It spread it's wings of fire and burnt all the demons within it's scorching path. A black shadow darted from demon to demon, bringing each down with a flash of a sword.

Rena brought her legs up and kicked the demon thrice before sliding under it to shoot an arrow. Another demon came up behind her, with it's knife raised. Raven was at her back in an instant, and let loose several quick slashes. The demon, crimson and rocky, arched its back. Raven dove to the ground as Rena dropped to the other side. The demon released spikes from it's body, thrusting into the empty area where they were both standing seconds ago. Rena kicked the other demon away and shot an emerald arrow that had air bundled around it at the one that had almost killed them.

A boy's voice, tired but familiar, was heard. "Rena! Raven! Get the people out of here!"

She turned around. "Elsword!"

"Eve told me to." He pointed at the fading mark on his face. "I got everyone else out of the way."

Rena nodded. "We'll finish it up. Go get some rest with the others." Elsword dodged a demon's attack and was out of her sight.

Eve avoided getting injuries as much as she could, but it was getting increasingly difficult. With no distractions left on the battlefield but her, all the demons were aiming for the Nasod. She hoped that Elsword was done with the assignment she gave him and skidded around to meet her chasers. She was almost impaled by another spear and ducked just in time to feel it fly over her._ I must get to another area. It is too close here_. She swung over a boulder that had once been a part of a building and saw the open ocean ahead. Eve floated down the hill and checked to see if she had enough strength left to pull this.

She summoned two silver spears of steel. They arranged themselves in front of her as she imagined a force strong enough to pull every demon surrounding her. A rip in space tore open and a black hole emerged. One by one, the demons piled up inside and was thrown around. The spears drew back towards her, letting the black hole explode. Black blood rained for a short while as remnants of their opponents were scattered.

_ I did not see a human in there...it seems like Elsword listened to me after all._ Eve poked her cheek to fight down the rising urge to...smile? She could not describe the feeling, but she successfully kept her mouth straight.

The wind blew past her ear, bringing voices. She amplified the sound to hear more properly. "Get the citizens out. We have to take care of the rest." Eve flinched; even that was not enough to banish all of them? She went up the dirt path and stood in front of Hamel again.

Demons ravaged the place. Even some victims from her previous black hole were standing and fighting. _This is...this is absurd... _She spotted an entire troop of people in red battling the demons. They were clearly more experienced than the defenders from before; a woman with a red braid was using her sword to bring down a large demon wolf.

Someone put a hand on her shoulder. The Nasod whirled around, and Aisha instantly found a threatening Reby in her face. "Woah!" Reby was at Eve's shoulder once more, staring like it hadn't tried to attack her moments before.

"Hello, Aisha."

Aisha sighed. "Elsword collapsed when he got to us. He was mumbling something about no more slaps, and we found out that he'd been poisoned. Right before he fainted, he said it didn't hurt. What an idiot." Even though her voice was meant to be offensive towards the boy, she detected signs of worry etched upon the girl's face.

"Does that-"

"Eve, watch out!" The mage grasped her hand and teleported out of the way as a wolf snapped at the air. "We have to get away from here!"

"I apologize, my plan did not work out as well as I thought. I had-"

"Don't say sorry." Aisha held her hand again and teleported a few meters ahead. "Tell us whatever you need to spit out after we reach a place where we can sit without being on guard every second, 'kay?"

Despite Aisha's teleporting, their dark enemies continued to attack them as they went by. The magician was so tired just from teleporting that Eve had to fend off every slash. They continued like that until they landed in the middle of the crowd of people.

Rena rushed over. "Are you two okay?"

Aisha grinned. "No...proble..." Her eyes closed as she fainted onto the elf's lap.

Rena laughed quietly as she picked her up in her arms. "Eve," she said. Eve looked up questioningly. "Please don't try to put yourself in danger again."

"I must ask your reasons for that command so I can verify it."

"The experience of living is something that you can enjoy only once in your lifetime. Once you...pass away...it's gone. Not all things are enjoyable, like today, but..." Rena looked up at the peeking sun, the warm light bathing her entire body. "Just don't do that again, alright?~"

Eve nodded. "We must leave now. The demons are still running amok."

Raven took Aisha from Rena's arms and disappeared. Rena turned her deep golden eyes to glance at her. "How are we going to get out? This is a land surrounded by miles of open ocean. The others told me that as well." She motioned with her head towards the defenders.

"The Shadow Forest is here right...now." As the Nasod said that, a low mist obscured the sun and the elf seemed almost depressed by the sight of the looming forest again.

"I-I see, I hope we can get out again...I'll tell the others to start getting up."

All of the defenders refused to leave their city. Elsword and Aisha were carried by Raven and Rena. Eve waited patiently, checking her system and her drones as they took their time.

The forest seemed shorter this time. In five minutes, they were out on the other end. The emotionless girl picked the dead leaves and twigs out of her hair and saw a land of green splayed out in front of her. "Is this Ruben?"

Rena scowled, which was unusual for the kind elf. "Yes, this is Ruben."

A motion caught Eve's eye as the undergrowth of the fading forest moved. The human clad in white armor stumbled out, it's mask now gone. It's dusty blond hair was short and it framed it's light-skinned face. Two coffee brown tips jutted out of it's hair, having a strange resemblance of ears. Underneath the bolt-cut bangs, aqua blue eyes blinked.

"Oh...um...hi..." The voice was the exact same as the one Eve had remembered hearing over the din of chaos. It sounded like a boy, yet the physical features of it was almost feminine... She could not determine whether it was male or female.

"Would you like me to check your gender for you?"

**Ever - I'm so sorry guys, I didn't update for a week TT-TT I had to base this whole chapter on three blurry pictures, and I chose Hamel Gate. And then I didn't know what mobs there were in Hamel and Google didn't tell me . The mobs in this chapter were based on Feita and the Demon Invasion (proxies, rage golems, archers, assassins, Durahan knights, etc.) And then I had SCIENCE HOMEWORK. Burn down the school already! I'm so sorry that this chapter was so dragged out and boring and horrible and all that! So I got stuck-**

**Elsword - Done working your mouth off yet?**

**~ One minute later ~**

**Ever - *pinning Elsword to the ground with a knife in hand and growling* What did you say?**

**Elsword - I, ah...said you were, er...very nice, Mistress Yume.**

**Ever - Ah. Thanks. *lets Elsword up***

**Rena - *comes into living room* What's going on here-**

**Elsword - *runs to Rena* YUME TRIED TO KILL ME **

**Rena - I'm sorry, Elsword, but...you probably deserved it.**

**Elsword - OAO How could you...how could you betray me, Rena!**

**Rena - *dramatic voice* I did not betray anyone. YOU betrayed YOURSELF.**

**Ever - *ruins drama moment* COME HERE ELSWORD I STILL NEED TO STAB YOU!**

**Elsword - NUU DX *runs out of living room***

**Raven - *comes in* **

**Rena - Why, good morning, Raven.**

**Elsword - *comes back in* SAVE ME! TTwTT**

**Ever - *spots Aisha* AISHA! HELP ME BIND HIM.**

**Aisha - Got it! *winks***

**Elsword - NOO**

**Ever - Stand still! I need to stab you!**

**Elsword - HELL NO**

**Aisha - *casts Angkor into room to catch Elsword***

**Angkor - *looks around and sees Raven before attacking Raven's head***

**Ever - COME BACK ELSWORD!**

**Elsword - NEVAR**

**Aisha - *runs after Elsword* I'M GOING TO USE BINDING CIRCLE ON YOU!**

**Eve - *sips tea***

**Raven - ...Good morning to you too.**


	3. Chapter 3 - Unlocked

**Thanks, Hollifier, for correcting Eve's drones' spelling mistake XD Well...if you mouse over base Eve's costume drone in the game, her comment is, "Let's name the black one Moby and the white one Reby." But the says it's Moby and Remy x-x Thank yus for that anyway! It'll be Moby and Remy now. I'll go edit Chapter 1 and 2 later for their names. And Sweet Trickster, the one who instantly reviewed after the second chapter's post...LOL.**

Chapter 3

* * *

~ Unlocked ~

* * *

Elsword clenched his hand until the fist trembled. _Damn it! The Red Knights were there...Elsa..._ His head was down, facing the old wooden table, and he shut his eyes again, regret and frustration battling inside him. _I can't believe I was weak enough to collapse right then. Elsa was there...does that mean I'm still not strong enough?_

Eve's voice poured into his mind. "-please come, I need-"

He heard a new voice. "No! I told you, I'm a boy!"

Elsword's head snapped up. "What?" Eve, in a simple white dress, was staring at a short boy in damaged white armor, a piece of El glittering on his chest. Moby and Remy were over her tattered clothes that were on the floor, fixing them with threads attached all over their body. Rena was sewing with them, carefully pushing and pulling the needle back and forth. The boy had dusty blonde hair with dark brown tips that jutted out, resembling ears. His face was petite, and his eyes were a cute blue. He was shielding himself from the Nasod using a giant cannon that was fashioned like his armor; white and royal-looking.

"I cannot confirm that you are a boy. I need to scan your gender! Come!" When Eve casted a scanning light, she found herself scanning the ground. "Chung!" She whipped around and glared at Chung, who was slipping from the kitchen and into the bedrooms stationed above.

The inn's fire crackled, the sparks leaping from the licking flames and landing on the floor as silence settled over them. Elsword stared after Eve, who had chased after the new boy, seemingly to "check his gender." He shook his head; it was still hard to understand what was going on in that girl's mind. He returned his red gaze back at the fire and mulled over his situation.

The fire seemed alive, the way it lived on the wood like they lived on El. It flared for a second, almost touching the chimney, then dimmed down. He felt a blast of heat on his face and sighed. How could he improve himself in this impossible state? He had been training for years and years, even after Elsa left him. But after he had thought of himself as weak, he wasn't as confident about his techniques and way of fighting. Certainly his way of the sword wasn't to blame...was it? He had handled the demons well enough with his sword. _With Aisha, _he unconsciously added. What was he possibly lacking?

Arms wrapped around his body and embraced him. Rena had put down her needle to come over. "Don't think too much on it," she said softly. "You're already strong, Elsword."

His reply was harsher than he had imagined. "Not strong enough to not be a burden to someone else. You're fine. I'm not." He knew he had made a mistake, but stubbornly kept quiet to make himself seem like he meant it all along.

The elf didn't seem hurt at all. "We all realized our flaws after the battle. It just depends on us as to whether we learn from them or not." Rena looked into his eyes and held them there with a dark golden gaze before letting him go and returning to the ground to repair Eve's clothes.

_Maybe...I should try something new...?_ He thought of various ways to learn new sword techniques, but none of them seemed to come into play when he imagined the demons again. His mind veered away from his sword and opened up to other possibilities.

Elsword replayed the battle at Hamel within his mind, as much as he could remember, anyway. Aisha seemed to be doing fine on her own; even defending him whenever he exposed weak points. She always used magic to deal any successful damage though; her staff would have broken against the swords of the creatures. An ember lit in his mind and he grabbed at it and built from it. He could learn how to use magic, like Aisha, and wield his sword at the same time. So when he revealed a vulnerable spot on himself, he could cover it up using magic from his left hand while his sword was occupied by his right...

Elsword bolted from the table and sped up the stairs. He had to learn magic, and who else was there to learn magic from, other than the shortie who was always flipping madly through her spellbook? He skidded to stop in front of her door, feeling almost ashamed at himself for relying on her to get stronger. The feeling swiftly subsided though, and he found himself opening the door.

* * *

Eve sat in front of Chung, arms lowered into her lap, legs beneath her. She continued inspecting him, craning her neck to peer past the cannon that hid him. "If you insist on hiding from me, I will have to conclude that you are female."

His head popped out from behind the cannon. "I'm a boy though!"

"Allow me further analyzation of your gender. May I scan other secluded areas to confirm?"

"What?! No."

She sighed and gave up. "Whichever gender you are, I will be referring to you as a 'he,' then, if it suits you."

Chung smiled from behind his weapon. "Thank you." He stepped out and put the cannon away, swinging it with ease as he walked over to the other end of his room.

Eve was intrigued by it. "May I see your cannon?"

"Hm? My Destroyer? Sure." He motioned for her to come over. She rose elegantly to her feet and watched as the sunlight poured gently over the cannon. It seemed to be black on the inside with white plates covering it, just like Chung's armor. "What is this Destroyer of yours made out of?"

"I'm not really sure. It was my...father who had...made it." She looked into his eyes and found several feelings; regret, sorrow, and determination were in there. "A-Anyway, I'm just rambling on. What did you need with it?"

"Will you come outside of the inn with me to practice?"

"Practice sparring?" He blinked. "Alright, let's go then." Chung managed to maintain a cheerful response, but Eve detected that it was a strain for him. He swung the Destroyer onto his shoulder and let a small sigh escape from him.

They walked out of the door and, closing it behind them, they continued down the stairs and hopped onto the bottom floor, the kitchen. Several round tables sat on the cherry wood floor, and a maroon rug with fraying ends and golden designs lay in front of the entrance that was located next to the counter. The black kitchen counter held several platters of food, all for dinner. She glimpsed the cook rushing back and forth between pans and pots, brewing soup and frying chicken at the same time. Moby and Remy were still over her clothes, staying away from the flames that blazed in the fireplace, with Rena nowhere to be found. "Is it done?" she asked. Moby nodded it's body while Remy shook it's white head. She took one glance at her clothes and saw that it was not finished. "Moby, are you malfunctioning?"

The black drone whirred and gave a series of clicks. It trembled and stared at the clothes on the floor before shaking it's body as a "no." Eve walked past the table where Elsword was sulking on earlier when she noticed Chung was not following her. She stopped and looked back. "Please come before-" Her words lingered in the air as Chung petted the drones, getting thread stuck between his fingers as he did. Her system did not respond to her question. She hesitated, still unsure of whether she should reprimand him or not. When he got up again, the words flowed from her. "-night falls. I need to collect your data before I adjust anything. Moby, Remy, come."

After a quick we'll-be-going-outside-we're-coming-back-later with the cook, the fresh wind greeted them as they stepped out of the inn and onto spring grass. At the far left of Ruben, Eve saw a man with grey hair and red armor, similar to Elsword's. His face was squarish in comparison to other citizens, and behind him was a stout building with a sign hung up, saying: "Sparring Practice." As the two approached him, he gave them a slow smile and introduced himself. "Name's Lowe, and I'm thinking you're here to spar?" He motioned his hand towards the building painted in gold behind him. "Go around; there's an open field there. All the other rooms are taken, so the field's all yours." Chung returned the smile and strode past him. Eve followed with a short bob of her head before heading over to their assigned field.

The lush grass waved in the wind that whistled through the field. Eve took a stance, spreading her feet a few inches apart and having her arms free and ready to command her drones. She noticed that Chung had reloaded his Destroyer and brought the cannon up on his shoulder as he braced himself for the impact of the match.

"Begin," said Eve.

* * *

Elsword grumbled. "I've been trying for two hours already, how long does it actually take?"

Aisha casually flipped through the pages of her leather-bound spellbook. There were scribbles all over the margins, and the pages were yellowed with age. "It depends." He didn't reply; he couldn't tell whether she was enjoying this or not.

For the past couple of hours, he had been trying to light a flame from the palm of his hand or even on his fingertip. She had kept saying, "Just imagine it there. If you have enough resolve, it'll light up sometime." He tried to think that the fire WAS there, dancing on his hand, with the heat trickling onto his palm. He even added smoke to the image to see if it would work.

"_Will_ it to be there," she advised again, not even looking up from her book. "_Really_ will it to be there."

"I'm trying, okay?!" He took a deep breath and attempted again. The fire was cupped in his left hand, with the grey smoke spiraling out of it... He suddenly recalled the flames in the fireplace downstairs, and used that to boost his imagination.

"Oh. You got it." The pages rustled as Aisha got off the bed. Elsword opened his eyes, surprised. A thin wisp of a fire was there, in the middle of his left hand, looking like an orange ghost. The moment he saw it, though, his concentration shattered and the fire disappeared along with the smoke.

He didn't care that it was small, or that it had only been there for less than three seconds, or that he was exhausted from his previous failures. He felt exhilarated and triumphant at his one success. "I did it! I did it!" He jumped around and immediately felt dizzy. He crashed onto Aisha's bed face-first, leaving a dilemma for the girl.

_Is he asleep?_ she thought. She was about to consider wacking him with her staff to check when his breathing steadied and slowed down. _I guess he is, then._ Aisha mumbled to herself. "How will I sleep with him there? I can't move him either..." She sighed. "I have to sleep on the ground, then..." The mage leaned over her bed and snatched the notes, then stuffed them back into her book. She lifted her book up and placed it gently on her nightstand before taking three blankets from the closet. For some apparent reason, the closet in her room was full of those. She spread one on the floor for herself and another as a blanket, then draped the third one over Elsword. Night was falling; she took one glance out of her window and found the sky darkening into a black-blue. Aisha yawned and stretched before snuggling under the covers of her uncomfortable make-shift bed. She rolled onto her side and soon drifted into the darkness of unconsciousness.

* * *

Eve could see the moonlight shining over where they sat. She didn't notice what she was wearing, nor what style her hair had, nor could she see clearly who she was talking to. All she could get a glimpse of him was that he had spiky hair, different from Raven's, and blue, blue eyes. He was leaning back on the rust-red gravel, and she spotted his hands. "I feel happy when I'm talking to you." She heard him laugh lightly.

She leaned back on her hands as well and tilted her head up to gaze at the specks of light in the night sky above them. The stars were even more distant than the moon, which was a bright, white disk, entrancing her. The mountain breeze ruffled both of their hair when she flatly replied, "I do not give happiness to anyone nor anything. I only give pain and sufferage, some more than others, some none at all."

She heard him laugh again. "Then why do I feel so happy right now?" Something sparked within her as she watched him shift his weight onto his left hand as he reached out with his right to pet Moby.

* * *

Eve woke up with moisture gathering around her eyes. Before she could stop the flow, a tear, silver in the moonlight, dropped onto her project. Abashed for doing this to something so important, she wiped them away from her face and her project. What had caused her to act this way? Was it a dream of some sort? She couldn't remember her dream, if she had one at all. Eve realized that she had fell asleep on her tools after midnight. She scolded herself for being so irresponsible and set her system to wake her up if anything of this sort happened again. The Nasod cleaned up her worktable and went to bed properly, falling into a dreamless sleep without knowing she had unlocked another emotion, "Sorrow."

**Heylo, my dear readers :D I'm sorry for the delay, I blame school and writer's block once more! I know this chapter isn't much, and it isn't detailed at all, but I welcome all constructive criticism! I need it! Correct any grammatical errors that I have, or the use of any word I might've used wrong. (Does that even make sense?) Eve is still the main character, but I just decided to add snippets of other characters so you know what they're up to as well :] I'm going to try for weekly updates. Alright, thank yus for reading, and I'll be taking my leave now~**


	4. Chapter 4 - Midnight Arrival

** Sweet - It's okay ;D I love reading all reviews~ It takes a lot more to freak me out :3**

** Everyone else - THANK YOUUUUUU~! FOR ALL YOUR REVIEWS AND PATIENT WAITING ^^**

Chapter 4

* * *

~ Midnight Arrival ~

* * *

Eve compressed her tools into a small, compact box and put it in her sleeves. She swung the black closet open and picked up a neat pile of folded clothes. She donned her regular clothing again, now that they were patched up, and exited her room.

During the time she took to check that all their rooms were as clean and tidy as before, she pulled out a data file and accessed it. The data file had contained her sparring match with Chung yesterday. As she rewatched it, she noted once more that he left gaps in his back and side while swinging the Destroyer to keep the opponent occupied. However, with more than one target, the probability of him being able to keep up with their attacks was very small...

She came across Aisha's room and found three blankets that were spread out over the floor. Without question, she bent over to pick them up. Eve folded the blankets, shoved them back into their correct locations, and went downstairs.

Moby chirped and zipped over to where Chung sat at the table. The black drone settled itself into his hair, shifting to a more comfortable position. Chung set his fork down and disentangled it from his hair. He placed the drone on his lap and continued eating like nothing had happened.

Elsword yawned as she came over to sit in the empty seat they had left for her. Resisting the urge to snatch back her drone, she settled into her seat and started eating from the selection on the table. Plates of fresh toast and egg gathered in the middle, with blueberry muffins surrounding it. Another plate, put off onto the side, held flat, circular, brown pieces of flour. Dark chips were imbedded into each and every one of them. Eve pointed at it. "What is that?"

Aisha's eyes followed her finger. "Oh, those? Those are chocolate chip cookies..."

"Cookies...?"

Rena raised her head from her food and stared at her. "You've never eaten a cookie before? I thought the kingdom of Nasods would at least have these if they had tea..." The elf stood up abruptly and whisked one from the plate. "Try it. When you rebuild your kingdom, you can have them make these." She laughed lightly at the vision her own words sent her, then handed the curious girl the cookie.

Eve held it between her fingers and examined it. It seemed fine enough...if it was made by the cook here... She took a bite out of it and paused for a moment to let the taste sink in.

"These are...interesting..." Eve swallowed and continued to bite into it, ignoring the toast and the eggs that sat in front of her. Elsword leaned over, his hand reaching for her plate when she finished the cookie and flicked his fingers away. "That is my food. You have already eaten your portions. Do not even think about taking mine again." He muttered something to himself as he sat back down. Aisha hid her laugh by cramming her mouth with a piece of toast.

After clearing the last crumbs off of her plate, Eve looked up to see Rena count several bronze coins into the cook's outstretched hand. As she headed back towards them, Eve pushed her chair back and stood up. "Is that the current currency?"

She blinked her emerald eyes. "The bronze coins I gave to the cook? Ah, yes." Rena bent over her to collect her empty plate along with the others, brushing her long strands of blond hair aside, then placed the stack on the kitchen's counter. "Alrighty, we're good to go~"

"Where are we going?" Chung threw Moby across the table, towards Eve. Moby spun in the air, stopped in front of it's mistress's face, and hesitated at her side. She gave a swift look at her drone and did nothing more.

"Elder Village." The elf slid her hands over her bow, caressing it. "It's about several miles away from here; we can probably make it by midnight."

Eve placed a hand on Remy. "I have said that I will accompany you, and so it shall be. Moby, Remy, come." The drones followed her as she walked towards the door in an indifferent aura.

"Hey Chung," Elsword said behind her. "You comin' along, or do you have to return to Hamel?" She found herself stopping at the entrance to hear his answer. The cold gust of wind from outside filled in the gaping silence as he considered a response.

"I-I guess...can I come with you guys? I don't think I'm getting anywhere near Hamel anytime soon...and, I need to get stronger! I can't protect anyone or anything in my current state." She turned around. Chung lifted his pleading blue eyes to look at each of the members in turn. "Please, let me join you!"

* * *

Night had fallen, about three hours ago. Eve could see the dim light of a populated area ahead of them; she couldn't stop the wave of relief from washing over her.

"Are we there yet?" Elsword asked for the umpteenth time. His eyes were closing every few seconds, and he seemed like he would nod off any moment.

"Almost," Rena's patient voice replied. "It's just ahead. Come on, you guys can make it." Aisha continued walking with renewed energy; it was probably the prospect of resting in the nearing village that did the trick. Moby, who had taken a liking for Chung, once again sat in his hair, peacefully dozing off.

Chung suddenly held up his Destroyer, like a shield. Out of the edge of her vision, Eve detected a projectile falling onto the thin grass. "We're being ambushed!" he warned.

She scanned the night with her lenses, but couldn't see anything. _What is wrong?! _She barely had enough time to see the arrow raining down on her, let alone move. A flash of movement and an arm in front of her caused the arrow to drop like a stone. "You alright?" Raven glanced back at her with golden eyes that she could at least see in the pale moonlight.

She gave the slightest of nods to him. "Yes. Thank you." Returning her gaze towards where the shafts were coming from, she saw Rena releasing arrows in quick, split-second nocks to her bow. Aisha was muttering something, a spell, even in her exhaustion. _Am I only a hindrance? _Suddenly feeling helpless, she heard Elsword shouting, "They're over here!" Following the sound of his voice, she located a huddle of surprised bandits and the red-haired boy waving his sword in great swings at the edge of a small bluff.

"Hey, what's this midget doing here?!" An archer actually stopped shooting to just stare at him.

"And what are you doing here, trying to kill us." Elsword stared back evenly, challenging him. Without warning, he rushed forward and booted him in the face, causing him to tumble off the bluff. The bandits, having regained their wits, grouped in on Elsword. Everyone below was too occupied with the onslaught of arrows to notice. Eve pushed off the ground, into the air. As she glided down, the head of a bandit holding a plain sword came into view. Using Moby and Remy, she hit his head and threw an electronball at him. The bandit fell down, stunned, as Elsword pierced through the ones surrounding him with his sword. "Eve!" he called, seeing her. "There's more on the other side! Rena can't last forever!" He was already kneeling, trying to compose himself but couldn't out of tiredness. Saving his breath, he only inclined his head towards the other end of the bluff, where bright blue flashes could be seen lighting up the dark night.

"Yes." As she headed towards where he directed her, she looked back. "Be careful, Elsword. I would not want to be the one cleaning up after your corpse." He grinned at her weakly before pushing himself up with his sword.

"I'm not dying just yet!" he shouted after her. "What're you talking about, I'm way stronger than you!"

She stopped once more, noticing a dark shape against the torches of their opponents. "That, you should be saying to someone else." As if to prove her point, she landed next to the dark figure, hoping that it was her ally. She still couldn't see; did someone mess with her vision system? As she was about to unleash her attack, the figure lumbered around. Even though it was too late, she realized that it was obviously not siding with her.

A large hand grabbed her by the neck and yanked her off the ground. "Look what we have here. A little girl who thinks she can go against us!" A man's face, scarred and dark-skinned, loomed in. One blue eye glared at her; the other was sealed with another scar. His shaggy chestnut brown hair was flung back as he guffawed. "Is this what that puny village sends after me?" Strangely, she could not see his right arm. However...

She yawned in his face. "No. THAT is what the village sent after you." As he turned around to look, Eve stretched out a single hand and slapped him, as hard as she could. He let her fragile neck go, leaving her free to skid beside the person who she had spotted behind the man's back. "Why hello, Chung. Were you the one causing those lights?"

"Yup." He casually knelt down to reload his cannon, as if there weren't enemies around them, as if he weren't the least bit fatigued at all. "Sorry I left for a bit. Someone threw me off onto the ground. I had to climb back up." He gestured at his dusty hands.

"There were no problems. Shall we continue?" A wooden sword, cruder than even Elsword's, swung down on them. As her comrade lifted his weapon to block the strike, Eve stepped back and pulled two gray spears out. They were entirely different from the ones she had used to generate the black hole; these were far more simpler, but in terms of power, would be on how it was used. As she thrusted the spears out in front of her, blue electricity trailed after it like a train, sparking in the air. The man's leg collapsed under him as he stepped into her trap. His whole body followed, making it even more effective than she had intended it to be.

"Banthus!" A bandit deftly took out one of it's shurikens and threw it at the pair. This time, Eve intercepted it's path with an electronball. "You all right, Banthus?"

He stood up. "Course I'm fine. And don't call me that," he snapped.

"Right, Boss." Banthus stretched out his left arm, the one that Eve never saw due to her poor vision. Something clicked within her mind. Instead of a regular human arm, he had a arm that was constructed out of machinery, but unlike Raven's complex one, he still had a hand. _So he covered his entire left arm with...Nasodry? That must be the most rudimentary piece of Nasodry I have seen, if it is even considered Nasodry. _

With a golden cuff at his shoulder and at his wrist to hold it together, a black scrap of leather striped with red was basically his left arm. She had no idea what he was going to do with it. Taking careful precautions as her system taught her to do so, she touched Chung's shoulder and suddenly gripped it when Banthus took a step forward. Swiftly constructing an image of her using photons, she used the same skill as when Chung was about to be incinerated by the beam of light. _This is the exact same situation, but that man is no demon...how... _By then, the sharp red laser that Banthus had released disappeared, along with her crackling fake.

"Damn it, missed," he growled. His bandits formed a circle around them again. Banthus swung his large sword in a wide arc over them. Without much mana left to support her, Eve did the only option there was for her; she placed one foot in front of the other, raised her hand to gather an electronball, and tossed him into the air. It hit him squarely in the chest, causing him to backflip mid-air. Touching the ground and stumbling on his feet, he raised his head and shot another concentrated laser at them, this time aiming correctly.

_He is not supposed to be able to use this, or even have it! Who has given him this? _Before she had time to react, Chung brought up his cannon against the laser. "Wait, Chung, the Destroyer-!" The other end of the laser burst through the regal cannon, barely missing her.

"It's okay," he said, his voice quiet. "It can probably be fixed."

She nodded, swearing to herself to help him later,then glared at Banthus. "What is your objective, to pounce on us like lazy night felines? We are here to return the El, and you shan't stop us, unless you wish to die in the absence of the crystal of life. If you try to stop us..." With every word, Eve approached even closer to the massive man. "...then you have no part to play in the peaceful world we will bring back." She tossed two electronballs at his torso, moving one last step towards him on the second, and drew her drones around her in a circular symbol. Moby slammed into Banthus, sweeping him off of his feet. His entire bulk crashed into the bandits panicking behind him. As a shooter closed his right eye to aim for the girl standing in the midst of the battle, something rigid was shoved into his back, knocking the air out of his lungs. A person, presumably the little boy from before, towered over him. "Please don't bother us." He jumped over him and went to distract the other archers.

Suddenly, dark blue light wrapped itself around several of their archers, stopping all of their movement. A volley of returning arrows sent the rest of their moving shooters scattering. A single woman stood at the edge, panting with her bow at her side. "Are you both uninjured?" A man with black hair bent down to pull someone else up. Another girl brushed her skirt off and stood with a wide stance, holding her violet staff with unshaken determination.

"More or less," monotone Eve replied. She batted at Banthus with Moby and Remy. As he moved his sword up to block her drone's annoying attacks, another sword clashed with his.

"Hey, it's you, you-" Banthus stopped talking as he grunted. He shoved the weapon off of his and grunted, "-punk." Elsword grinned widely, entirely in one piece.

"I might be a punk, but you'd be forever an old man who was defeated by a punk like me!" As the others dealt with the poorly trained bandits, he rushed forward. Reacting on instinct, he rolled over onto the other side of Banthus and slammed his sword on the ground. Fire erupted from three spots, aligned perfectly into a line. One burnt the man, causing him to topple over the edge of the bluff. As the boy leaned over to see where he landed, he saw nothing on the ground in the pale light that the silver crescent in the sky provided.

* * *

Eve processed the information through her mind that they had entered Elder Village. It was a quick rush to the inn, despite their groggy states, and even she could not help the desperate feeling of wanting to rest. Her system stopped taking in the details of the village, putting the rest of her energy into moving. When she entered her room within the inn, the final wave of exhaustion hit her, leaving Eve to collapse on the soft bed in a heap.

**This chapter sucked too ;^; I should stop writing about battle scenes; they must be getting extremely repetitive, boring, dull, and I'm bad at battle scenes...bleh :3 As always, I will thank you for reading this, but this time, you get a cookie! :D Whatever flavor you imagine it~ *hands cookies to you***


	5. Chapter 5 - Another Code

**Chapter 5**

* * *

_~ Another Code ~_

* * *

The morning fog started parting from the weak sunlight that the rising sun gave. Steel clashed against steel. Raven leapt back with his sword in hand, keeping his eyes on the black and white drones rather than the girl who commanded them. He thought of using his arm for a mere moment, but the idea repulsed him after what had happened back at Hamel.

For half an hour, Eve had caused him to dance by striking him repeatedly with her drones upon his request. He had his reasons, of course, but he was secretly grateful that the Nasod hadn't pressed him for them.

A blue electronball floated towards him. It was slow enough so that he could dodge it. After being hit by them once, he knew that it was smarter to dodge them than to stupidly block those balls of electricity. "Is that all, Raven? What are you going to do, now?" Eve stared at him with blank golden eyes. _Had she known why I had asked her from the beginning?_

"Well, I can't use this arm, can I?" He moved his metal fingers. "I'm always going to end up being afraid that it'll take me over. It's hard to struggle against it. Before I even met Elsword, Aisha, Rena, I've felt that I would just rather lose an arm rather than have one that's made of this."

"I see. But I will have to warn you, that it will come back, sooner or later. I've only caused a temporary removal of the virus, which can only be used two more times. What happens afterwards, I cannot say." She sat down on Remy and crossed her legs, her eyes never leaving his. "You still have slight control over your arm. Feel free to use it to do simple things."

"Heh...so you knew all along, huh?"

"I did hypothesize. If you had a fear of losing control of your arm, then you would stop using it and focus on your sword instead. However, I was not sure until just now."

He sighed. "It's hard to keep anything from you." Raven ran his Nasod hand over his sword. A light screeching sound from the friction reached his ears. He winced inwardly. _Bad idea._ "It's my turn to ask. What are YOU going to do now?"

She was still staring at him, but he caught onto the fact that she was staring straight through him, to somewhere else. "I have my duty to revive my race, as their queen. Recently, I have found a code within my system that might be able to do that." Before he could hear any more from her, Rena's voice drifted over to them.

"Raven? Eve? Elder's merchant Hoffman's invited us because he wants to speak with us!"

* * *

It seemed like the first thing that the merchant noticed was the silver-haired nasod, the elf with dark golden eyes, and the man with the nasod arm and extremely untamed black hair. Eve stared at Hoffman; he was being polite to Elsword, Aisha, and Chung, but she saw through it. He was purposely talking to them last. After exchanging unheard words between the three, they all dashed out of his house and branched off to their destinations...wherever they might be, through the river of people outside.

Hoffman glanced at the three of them standing awkwardly together at the edge of his table with misty blue eyes. He looked at her. "You are a Nasod, correct?"

_"Correct?" Does that mean he already knows I am one, and just confirming it with me? _Eve gave the slightest of indications that she was nodding. "I am Eve, Queen of the Ancient Nasods."

He smiled. "Ah, that must explain why you don't fit the description of nasods in every book I have." Leaning forward, he picked up a note on his glass table and folded it neatly. "Lenphad, our village's blacksmith, is looking for you. Why don't you go give him a visit?"

Eve assessed him. He seemed to be only an old merchant; not too expensive ruffled clothing, wrinkles around his eyes that showed he smiled a lot, and nothing much that made him stand out. But she knew that there was much more to him than what met her eye. "Yes, thank you for informing me of his desires. I will take my leave now for this Lenphad." She motioned for her drones to follow her and almost knocked over a stack of books. She was dusting herself off when the golden title on one of the books caught her eye. _Nasods of Altera. _Picking it up, she flipped to a random page. Even though it was yellow and crackling with age, she could still make out the image and the words inked upon it.

_Nasod Drillers (above) are found in most of Altera. They are also currently being used to help mine out Richie Mine near Bethma Village._ True to the fading words, a picture of a machine with brown parts and drills as it's arms was above the paragraph. It looked like a human, yet very...unhuman. Eve could recognize the light green Nasod core on top of its head. _What has the Nasod King done while I have been asleep? This...it looks nothing like the Nasods I knew. I can no longer say he '_perhaps deserved his death.' _He has earned it himself, by defying my very words and creating these monsters using the heart of our people._ She shut the book and placed it back on top of the stack. _I must focus on the present for now. I shall deal with the past later._ Without glancing back to see what the other two were doing, she pulled the brown door open. The hinges creaked as she shut it behind her. The noise of a bustling street filled her senses.

She scanned the group of people crowding in front of the merchant's house and near the bank. Once, she would have called them peasants, commoners, and would have dismissed them without a second thought. But the one who had pulled her out, Elsword, was not of royal bloodlines either. _Perhaps it is time for me to acknowledge their existence._ Without realizing it, she had paused on the edge, looking down at two identical white fountains spouting crystal blue water. Surrounding the fountain was short-cropped grass, several flowers bursting with colors, and children that played around with each other.

Something frigidly cold touched her neck. Fighting down her system's command to turn around and give a slap, she craned her neck to glare behind her. "Aren't you supposed to be going to Lenphad by now?" Raven cocked his head to one side, his golden gaze questioning her.

Her glare dissipated. "Yes. I was just storing all the details of Elder Village into my files. What are you doing here?"

"Seems like Lenphad wants to see me too."

"I see. We shall meet him together, then, for our own separate reasons."

Raven took her hand in his human one and dragged her through the crowd. It was as if he had forgotten that she was a Nasod, that her race was the one that had caused him to almost go insane. She didn't remind him about that fact, though. Instead, she asked, "What has happened in Velder that has brought you here?"

His grip slackened as his steps slowed to a stop. His hand dropped from hers. Eve couldn't see his expression. "Not knowing won't kill you. That's something that'll never get within your reach." The swordsman's voice had gotten considerably colder as he pushed onward, by himself, leaving her alone. _It seems that his past in Velder must have scarred him. _Raven's shadow was slipping away from her; she had to tail after him to get to Lenphad.

He was already beside a buff tan-skinned man with a brown beard and eyes the same color as Hoffman's. "You are Elder's blacksmith, yes?"

He grinned at her, welcoming despite the beard. "Yes, yes I am. And you, the Nasod?" Lenphad looked at the both of them. "He's part Nasod. You do that to him?" He bent over and inspected Raven's arm of metal.

"No, I am not the one who has given him that arm. It is someone else, someone who will not be activated again. But, it is due to my part that he does." Eve flashed back to the time when she saw the ripples of pain etched across his face. 'How did they even attach it to his body without killing him?' "I have come at your request. What is it that you have summoned me for?"

He brought his hand to his chin and chuckled. "Sorry, forgot. Mind if I go help her first?" Raven shook his head. "Alright. Your name, miss?"

"Eve."

"Welcome, Eve. As you know, I am Lenphad, blacksmith of Elder. Did you know, that my sister is a blacksmith for the famous Smith Cats in Velder? I do hope that-" He stopped abruptly and lowered his hand from his beard. "Right. No one cares about that." With a cough out of embarrassment or sickness, he ambled over to a black anvil. "Now where did I leave it..." he muttered to himself.

"What are you attempting to do?" she asked him. He was obviously trying to find something, but was it meant for her or of some sort?

"I've been working on a weapon for a Nasod ever since I came up with the idea. Of course, I thought it was just a stupid fantasy, but you're no fantasy. I remember taking it apart and putting the disassembled pieces somewhere..." His short brown ponytail disappeared out of sight as he bent down to look for it. A few clangs were heard, and he came back up with a soot-covered white cloth. It was wrapped around some object, probably to protect it against the blackened hands of the weaponsmith. "Eh. Well, here. It's one part of it. Sorry about that. I didn't take it apart after all." He gave a bonk to the side of his head and said, "Can't depend on memory anymore. Anyways, there isn't much to do with it, because it doesn't have any offensive properties as of now. I'd be thankful if you could put it to use, but right now, you can have it."

She unwrapped the bundle and asked, "What is it?"

"It's a spectral prism. If it can refract enough light and have it gather somewhere, it could melt a...well, it could melt my strongest sword. But I haven't found a vessel for that yet." The prism in her hands shimmered a glassy rainbow. She noted Raven's dark figure pressed against a contrasting beige wall, then thought about what she had said to him earlier.

_"I have my duty to revive my race, as their queen. Recently, I have found a code within my system that might be able to do that."_

_If I can transcribe the pieces of data from the code, I can channel concentrated El and fuse it with light, along with a vessel..._

_Then the revival of the Nasod race may be near..._

** And there goes another (short .w. ) chapter which should have NOT taken like a month to post. ._. But anyways, thanks if you're still actually reading it! :D And sorry for lack of updates, I'm currently being afflicted by the status effect: Writer's Block. BUT I SHALL PREVAIL! *ahem* XD Here are my responses to "Midnight Ambush"'s reviewers~ **

Kiyo-Kun Blade - You want cookies? Cookies? *shoves fridgeful of cookies at you* You can have them. I ate so many cookies at the last buffet, I'm taking a flour break for now. So feel free to take as much as you want from that fridge C: It will never get empty from cookies~ (And thanks for still reading this :D )

Sweet Trickster - :o Thanks for complimenting my battle scenes! I'm just one of those people who think bad of themself at times. Cx And I hope you'll continue loving this fic, but don't when it starts to suck. .-. Common sense, right? XD (I don't have much common sense, people tell me, but WHATEVER.) My supreme lord Trickster, your servant Ever awaits your very commands. *kneels down with a fridge on outstretched hands* The-wait, what is THAT doing on my hands? O-O *hastily swaps with a sapphire-hilted rapier*

An0n Author - Thanks for your compliment too! :3 And you want cookies as well? *snaps fingers* My pleasure. *silver platter appears with cookies set into the shape of a lotus* Have it all. :'D And if you want anything else, just ask me! ^.^

Muffin-Made Insanity - Are YOU sayin' MAH writing is better than YOURS, woman?! NONSENSE. I refuse to accept dat! Yours is much better, and I KNOW dat as a reader of your fanfictions! AND WHO SAYS I'M MOPIN', I'M PROUD OF MAH WRITING...MORE...OR LESS... *cough* ANYWAYS. You stalk meh? No, I think I stalk YOU. MWAHAHAHAHH! Oh, right. "...I am your night watcher!" Muffin to you if you know that reference! :3 Or, did I get the origin of that reference wrong? o.o"

Reaper53 - You want more Elsword x Aisha scenes? :o First time someone's asked me for that! XD Well, I DO have some scenes planned for them, but later on...very later on. o.o So if you have any ideas for those two, please do share! :D

**Thanks to all readers who don't or can't review, for being here at all! :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6 - Change of Thought

**Chapter 6**

* * *

_~ Change of Thought ~_

* * *

Rena had seen that her arrows did almost nothing against the demons among Hamel. She had seen that, if her arrows had not been created purely out of mana, they would have snapped. But what else could she do? Improve her arrows and, maybe, see them fail her again?

Her rare display of frustration was being spent on a target. _No. Not my arrows. I can't depend on them anymore._ Elsword's words had gotten to her, even though she had not meant them to. But they had. And now she was attempting to improve herself, probably in vain.

Hoffman had no suggestions for her like he had for Raven. She had been disappointed and hopelessly walked back outside, her golden hair blowing in the slight breeze.

A kick was aimed at the moving target. Several of the red-and-white ringed rounded pieces of wood were hanging from the ceiling, swaying because of the strings that held them. Her foot missed and the target moved on, unscathed.

Who could comfort her? She was always there for the others. She recalled the other day, clear as water, when Elsword had been telling her about his sister. It wasn't as if she didn't enjoy helping the others feel better, but when it was her turn to fall down...

She slid towards a low-hanging target and launched her feet up. Another miss. A searing pain on her side reminded her of the gash she had hidden from the others. In all truth, one of those demons who had wielded daggers had got her, from the side of her breast to her waist.

_Empty your mind of any thought but the target. Focus. Aim. Release with confidence that you are going to hit__._

The Elder's words, once again, popped up in her mind. It was when she was being personally taught by the Elder to shoot a bow and arrow. She could dimly remember that soft, gentle, reassuring voice that had pressured her to follow the path of an archer. And she had.

_It's gotten me nowhere, hm?_ But her frustration had faded away, like water draining out of a leak. Rena emptied herself of her melancholy thoughts. There was a target a few feet away from her, swaying mockingly. She spread her feet out in a wide stance and clenched her fists together, then glared at the bullseye with icily calculating deep golden eyes.

The end of her white boot crashed into the wood, splintering it with a satisfying _CRACK!_ She smiled, despite a few minutes earlier. It was as if the sun was shining on her again, and this moment felt exactly like the first time her arrow had been released and pierced the circle of red in the middle.

Rena practiced a few of her kicks, to see if she could aim more precisely than her shots. With each connecting kick, she felt her confidence grow and her strength along with it. By the time all the targets had been demolished, another hour had already passed and she was covered in a healthy sheen of sweat. She wiped some off of her face and stared triumphantly around the room.

"This is like a new future for me, hm? Let's see if this one can do better than the last!"

* * *

Elsword had been strolling around the edges of Elder Village, looking for Aisha. She was nowhere to be found, and despite his attempts to describe her to some villagers, no one had seen her.

He was about to ask a short, white-haired girl sucking on a pink lollipop next when he spotted the familiar sight of purple bending down. "Ay, Aisha!"

She straightened and turned around to stare at him. "What do you want, Elsword?"

"Teach me something else, maybe?"

She was slightly surprised. He had definitely learned faster than her, and in the span of a couple days, he was able to light his entire hand with fire. Aisha had noticed him by the fireplace in their lodge, trying to see if his hand was immune to the flames. She had been about to warn him when he jumped back, yelping as he clutched his burnt fingertip.

"Hm..." She set the books she had been lugging around for Echo temporarily on the ground. "Try shooting a fireball."

He caught on, his eyes lighting up. "Like the ones that you throw around with your stick?"

The corner of Aisha's left eye twitched. "It's a staff, you idiot. Now leave me alone so _I _have a chance to learn!" He flashed a genuine grin at her, which was so out of place, that she stood there and gaped at him. Then he was gone.

She went back to the stack of books that Echo had handed her. Then the small alchemist rushed over and knocked them out of her hand. "Here here! Echo found the right one! Take it, take it!" She shoved a crimson one into her hands and beamed at her. "Thank you for helping Echo, but Echo can do the rest! Now go go, you shouldn't waste time on Echo!"

Aisha laughed brightly and embraced the tiny figure, who was shorter than even her. "Thanks! I'll be going now!" She went down the slope of the white-stoned path, waving back at her before turning around and clutching the book to her chest. She twirled her staff around, humming optimistically when the end of it landed on something hard.

"Ah!" they both exclaimed simultaneously.

Chung was standing beside her, clutching the top of his head, where her staff had wacked him. She bowed down repeatedly and said, "Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to! I'm sorry!"

He rubbed the back of his head with an armored hand and smiled. "Haha, it's okay! I'm alright, you don't have to feel bad!"

His smile instantly made her feel horrible, though. He had just watched his kingdom crumble down and succumb to the darkness, and worse yet, his father couldn't fight back against the impure. He couldn't even do a single thing to prevent it all crashing down, despite his brave efforts. And yet he could still smile brighter than her...

"So what brings you here?" she questioned.

"Ah! I was just looking for Eve because I thought she could help me out with something!"

Aisha searched her mind for where the Nasod might be. She had left earlier than Rena, Eve, and Raven, so she had no clue where they were. But staring at the space behind Chung, she spotted both Raven and Eve next to a man with short brown hair. "Right behind you then, Chung!"

He turned around, his eyes softening in relief at having found her. "Thank you Aisha!"

"No problem!" She watched him head towards the blacksmith of Elder, then went back to their lodge. Along the way, she waved at several villagers who sought her for different various reasons. She was trying to remember what one of the villagers said when she arrived at the doorstep of their lodge. Something about someone named...Wally? In her eagerness to relearn the elements, she tossed the thought aside and figured that she would think upon it again later.

"If I'm to even try to gain the El Crystal for Ruben back," she said to herself as she stepped inside, "then I have to be at least stronger than that idiot, eh?" She chuckled, then went up the stairs, her staff at her side.

Her room was positioned next to Elsword's, a medium-sized place to the left of the stairs. She flopped onto the enticingly clean mattress and lay on her stomach as she flipped the book open. Light, bright as if they streamed down from the very heavens, shone in through the window's glass panes. She found herself humming some unknown song as she read a small paragraph about other uses and forms of summoned fire.

Memorizing the content, she held her staff out vertically in front of her. A rune of white magic circled beneath her feet as she closed her eyes, muttering the written incantation. Then, in a flash, she performed a circular sweep of her staff around her and flames engulfed the trail it left behind.

Just as she was about to return to the book to consult for other elements, she heard it. The telltale crackle of magic that was not elemental. She had heard it from long ago, when her father had been caught practicing it. When her father had been executed for it.

She had done so many things, done almost everything, to make others forget about her father. She had studied hard, been a know-it-all, because she wanted them to forget, to see who SHE was, not him. Forget what he had done and what he tried to do, and what he succeeded in doing. But the Headmaster wanted her to fail, even as the others started to accept her. And even as she remained alone, he still sought her and had given her a ring. Despite her being the whole academy's top prodigy, she had been fooled. She wore the ring on a necklace of chained gold upon her neck just as she was about to give her valedictory speech. The result had brought her here, alone and outcasted once more, because the ring had taken almost all her magic and left only a sliver of will and hope.

Most of all, she wanted to make herself forget. But even as she lit a small fire at the end of her wand, she saw it. A line of black, streaking through the flickering flame like lightning.

It was magic that one was born with, not to be learnt.

Aisha collapsed to her knees. "No..." she whispered disbelievingly.

"Dark magic..."

* * *

**I'm so sorry everyone! QAQ Writer's block was hindering me, and I didn't want to give you guys a crppy chapter, so I didn't update for like two months. Dx But I got over my block, so expect a mass release of updates soon! :DDD Next to update should either be Forgotten or Free in Spirit, Chained in Soul. xD Here are my replies to my awesomely awesome reviewers! :D And, by the way, reviewers. You should check out the review page so you can reread what you said, so that way, I won't be jabbering nonsense! xD**

xSnowflakesx: _:cough cough: _Much better than yours? _:stares at my number of reviews and stares at yours: _Please rephrase that into - "My story is way better than yours! :D" LOL. Another "The Breathless World"? Should I take that as a compliment? I mean, that's like saying I'm copying ShiraCirca... *-* Nah. My plot's already so twisted up it can never be like Shira's. xD Thanks for your compliments anyway! And remember, I'm always reading your fanfics, even if my reviews are absent! :3

Sweet Trickster: *-* I KNOW RIGHT CLASS CHANGES FTW :DDD And this chapter has some...more...class changes... xDDD Pain the butt, you nailed it there. -.- But it's over now, and I'ma feel like I'm on sugar rush until I get my block again...which, I hope, is never. Cx "Yes, my dear Supreme Overlord, I have heeded your commands. I have updated this as soon as I could have when it wore off. I do sincerely wish that you are satisfied with my more-or-less horrible work." xD And if you touch the sword, that means that you must want to lose a limb, hm? *-*

Konjiki No Yami: Yep, they're going through class changes alright! :D I guess my horrible plot twist of fetching Chung did help quite a bit in changing the way of thinking in the members... xD And I'm sorry because I'm pretty sure "update soon" does not mean two months later. qwq

An0n Author: :o Thanks for the compliment! And are you okay? o-o Do you need a tongue check? I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong set of cookies, I might've switched it up between edible and poisonous. :'D

Kat Neko983: Haha, thanks! But no worries, your writing is perfectly fine too! :D I'm reading your hilarious fanfics, keep it up! ^w^

Skyra Moon: O-O Am I really that good of a writer? OAO If so, then thank you very much! ^o^ There's not that many that I like either, and if I must dryly say... I think all of my fanfics are boring! xP

RubyCrusade: IT'S OKAY CALM DOWN MY DEAR WRITING FRIEND! O-O You don't have to freak just because you got it later! xD (Although I freak too when I find out you've updated Innocent Sin and I received no email. -.-") Yeap, this IS my first fanfic ever! xD But I also wrote random crp in the past years so I guess it's not like my first time writing anything? o-o" Yeah, I'm pretty fluent with Eve because I speak EXACTLY like her when I'm in a quiet, cold rage. xD Plus she was my first character ever, I have all three of her paths, and I always read what she has to say... =w= Infinity Sword, whatchu doin' here?! OAO _:TsukixnoEvernight has revived RubyCrusade:_ Dun die yet! OAO (Infinity Sword: Yet? ._.")

YuYuYu A: Yes, I'll include some sweet Raven x Rena moments soon! *-* And I heed your advice, here is actually an entire non-Eve POV'd chapter! :D I'll do either Chung or Raven's POV next... xD Hope you weren't disappointed! I'm doing Raven x Rena next chapter, I think. o-o But I'm probably horrible at romance, so it'll probably end up as a dramatic failure. xP Yeah, I'm going to leave Eve out for a while, so it'll be better, hopefully. :3 Thanks for pointing that out, I needed someone to actually do these sorts of things so I can IMPROVE! *-* Thanks for the luck too, and I'll see if I can dish out the next chapter as soon as possible! :DDD

**And all those other readers, thanks for coming here to check out the update! ^w^ (Or if you're just reading all six chapters... Whatever, I'm still thanking you! xD )**


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